In a shocking revelation, whistleblowers testified before Congress, alleging that billions of taxpayer dollars have been misused by a government contractor to traffic children at the border. Deborah White, a federal employee detailed to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), described to Senators Chuck Grassley, Bill Cassidy, and Ron Johnson the horrifying discovery that children crossing the border were being placed in the care of unvetted sponsors, some of whom were involved in human trafficking.

White and her colleague Tara Rodas first identified trafficking cases involving minors in June 2021. Despite their reports, the children continued to be sent to dangerous and inappropriate locations, such as abandoned houses, non-existent addresses, and even open fields. White recounted one instance where a child was sent to an open field in Michigan after a 911 call had been made reporting screams for help from the location.

The whistleblowers highlighted the rampant use of fraudulent documents and the lack of face-to-face meetings between ORR officials and sponsors. Rodas shared the disturbing case of a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl whose supposed sponsor, claiming to be her brother, was found to be in possession of child pornography and was seen inappropriately touching her.

Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris described it as “frightening” that less than 10% of children apprehended at the border are reunited with their parents. White criticized the ORR program as “the biggest failure in government history” and accused ORR leadership and contractor Cherokee Federal of ignoring warnings to avoid border crowding.

Senator Bill Cassidy called for immediate action, arguing that President Biden needs to secure the border and reform ORR to protect children from harm. The Biden administration and Cherokee Federal have yet to respond to these grave allegations.